SlawTipshttp://tips.slaw.ca
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 18:56:43 +0000en-UShourly1Slawtipshttps://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationUncivil Conduct Can Be Cured With Civil Conducthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/xdgb8QmaPL4/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/uncivil-conduct-can-be-cured-with-civil-conduct/#respondThu, 15 Feb 2018 18:56:43 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6703For several years I worked in a small-ish town in a small-ish bar where everybody knew your name. Stepping into an examination for discovery was almost as familiar as stepping …]]>For several years I worked in a small-ish town in a small-ish bar where everybody knew your name. Stepping into an examination for discovery was almost as familiar as stepping into Cheers. During an examination for a discovery of my client, defence counsel – a lawyer who was typically patient and good-natured – became frustrated and raised his voice. I let it go. But the anger continued into the next question, louder still, demanding my client answer the question with more clarity. I stuck out my hand, fingers up, palm out, to indicate to my client not to answer. Defence counsel whipped around, facing me, eyes digging into me, “What? I’m entitled to an answer!” To which I answered, poker-face, in as calm and measured as a tone as I could muster while maintaining eye contact, “For the record, defence counsel’s voice has raised to an unacceptable level in my view. Let’s take a break. I could use a coffee.” I nodded to my client and we stood up and walked over to grab a few snacks. Defence counsel followed suit, nary a word between us. When we returned to the room, the discovery continued civilly.

After the discovery I received an email from defence counsel apologizing for his conduct. He was going through some problems outside of work. It was unnecessary but a nice gesture – whatever wrong was done was forgiven quickly. Uncivil conduct can be cured with civil conduct. I try and remind myself whenever I see someone treat me poorly that “it’s not personal”. It is likely a bad day for that person, or it is how that person treats everybody. Somehow that helps me forgive and soldier on. It’s a small thing, but I hope it helps you too.

Purists often say that between must – MUST! – refer only to a relationship involving two parties or things, and no more. The –tween…

]]>This one may surprise you.

Purists often say that between must – MUST! – refer only to a relationship involving two parties or things, and no more. The –tween bit does have the same origin as the number two, after all.

Among, the purists say, is to be used when the relationship involves three or more persons or things.

The purists are too pure. The Oxford English Dictionary and Fowler’s Modern English Usage have long warned that this supposed distinction between between and among is mere ‘superstition’.

According to OED, ‘between has been, from its earliest appearance [at least as far back as the year 931], extended to more than two’ – and ‘it is still the only [emphasis added] word to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and individually; among expresses a relation to them collectively and vaguely…’

One would therefore correctly say:

The space lying between the three trees

A treaty between three states

A difficult choice between three candidates

You are among friends

Among many choices, he took the easiest option

She is a keen tennis-player, among other things

In contractual drafting, however, you may be better off saying Theagreementamong X, Y and Z – if only to keep the (misguided) purists at bay.

As Ross Guberman observes in Deal Struck: The World’s Best Drafting Tips (2014), debating the point with the purists is probably ‘not constructive’.

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/between-and-among/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/between-and-among/Financial Headwinds to Avoid in 2018http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/RMc5UYwIWI4/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/financial-headwinds-to-avoid-in-2018/#respondThu, 08 Feb 2018 12:00:17 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=66942017 has already come and gone and while it may have seemed like a volatile year from a political perspective, it was actually a very stable rise in the investment …]]>2017 has already come and gone and while it may have seemed like a volatile year from a political perspective, it was actually a very stable rise in the investment markets. In fact the VIX, a measure of volatility in the markets, was one of the lowest on record we have seen in this decade. Often when we have had such periods of market stability, investors underestimate market risk. Here are some financial headwinds to avoid in 2018:

Borrowing costs will likely rise in 2018.
The economy’s improving, and chances are interest rates will go up. Are you ready?

Consider interest rates before taking on more debt.
If you have a variable-rate mortgage or a home-equity line of credit, expect your interest rate to keep pace with these increases. Protect yourself by paying down your debts.

Dealing with low savings rates.
Rates on savings account will probably remain unchanged. Waiting for your big bank to boost savings rates to meaningful levels – equal to the cost of living, or better – is point- less. Search for an online bank with a competitive return on savings. My favorite online site for great rates is Ratehub.ca

Following the crowd when it comes to crypto currencies.
There’s a gold-rush aspect to bitcoin and other crypto currencies, but it’s also a technology story, an investing story and a testament to how trust in public institutions is decaying. Remember, bitcoin is a virtual currency that isn’t backed by anything tangible such as a government and its central bank.

Not having a diversified portfolio.
A common reason why stock markets crash is fear of recession. The economies in the United States, Canada and elsewhere seem to be improving, which should be good news for stocks. But there’s a feeling of complacency about risk these days that has to be acknowledged. DON’T forget bonds or GICs still have a place in your portfolio.

Not understanding what you are paying for investment management fees.
It’s hard to find an investing expert who doesn’t believe we’re in an era of more modest investment returns than we’ve seen in previous periods. Current returns may be a temporary bubble. Lowering fees is one way to get back. Look at what you pay, and what you get for the money. An advisor who skillfully manages your portfolio, your retirement plan and your tax situation may be worth the money.

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/financial-headwinds-to-avoid-in-2018/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/financial-headwinds-to-avoid-in-2018/It Could Go Either Wayhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/gnymeetDKPk/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/it-could-go-either-way/#respondThu, 08 Feb 2018 12:00:16 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6395English is a very difficult language to learn – and not just for those whose mother tongue is something else.

Native speakers may, in fact, have a harder time, because …

]]>English is a very difficult language to learn – and not just for those whose mother tongue is something else.

Native speakers may, in fact, have a harder time, because they may have picked up the rules (more or less accurately) by osmosis, rather than having them clearly articulated.

This is complicated by English spelling, which is fluid. Before the early 1700s, you could spell things more or less how you felt – which largely meant phonetically. There were, for example, 20-odd variants of Shakespeare in use during the playwright’s lifetime (and his own spelling of the name was inconsistent).

Even modern writers are faced with choices, and there isn’t always a clearly preferred spelling – as the following examples will attest.

Dreamed or dreamt?

Many verbs used to have past-tense forms ending in both –ed and-t. In modern English, one form or the other may survive, or sometimes both. It isn’t always clear which one is better: go by instinct.

No one still writes stopt or curst, but on the other hand you would always use crept, dealt, felt, kept, meant, slept and swept.

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/it-could-go-either-way/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/it-could-go-either-way/CanLII Connects – Start Taking Your Research to the Next Levelhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/OI7UW6jJZhI/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/canlii-connects-start-taking-your-research-to-the-next-level/#respondWed, 07 Feb 2018 12:00:39 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6688Are you using CanLII Connects for your legal research? CanLII Connects is a phenomenal website that features high-quality legal commentary and summaries of Canadian court decisions. It’s a continually growing …]]>Are you using CanLII Connects for your legal research? CanLII Connects is a phenomenal website that features high-quality legal commentary and summaries of Canadian court decisions. It’s a continually growing source of authoritative legal commentary that is free, accessible, and open to anyone. Currently, the site boasts summaries of thousands of Canadian decisions dating back to the 1800s.

CanLII Connects is more than just a website. It’s a community resource. It brings together members of the legal community and provides a space to share their analysis and opinions of court decisions. The commentary found on CanLII Connects is created by members of the legal community. Only qualified members of the legal community and registered users of this site are permitted to post. This maintains quality.

From the homepage, summaries can be quickly sorted by jurisdiction, date, or author. This makes it easy to find summaries from a particular province or contributor. Each summary is linked directly to the full text case on CanLII. Conversely, cases on CanLII are linked to any summaries available on CanLII Connects.

CanLII Connects has made big waves and received some prestigious awards including the Canadian lawyer Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award and the Canadian Law Blog Award.

The Law Society of Saskatchewan Library has been a major supporter of CanLII Connects since it was launched in April 2014. To date, the Law Society Library has submitted almost 25,000 summaries of Saskatchewan court decisions to CanLII Connects. This represents our entire collection of case digests. As you may know, the Law Society Library employs a number of contract digesters to summarize and digest Saskatchewan court decisions. These digests appear in Case Mail, our popular semi-monthly newsletter, and in the Saskatchewan Cases database.

We have been proud to support CanLII Connects. It is an impressive endeavour that signifies major changes to the world of legal information and publishing.

[This tip by Alan Kilpatrick originally appeared on the Law Society of Saskatchewan Library’s Legal Sourcery Blog]

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/canlii-connects-start-taking-your-research-to-the-next-level/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/canlii-connects-start-taking-your-research-to-the-next-level/Please Tell Me You Don’t Write Letters Like Thishttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/g_5BwMg2ZsU/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/please-tell-me-you-dont-write-letters-like-this/#commentsWed, 31 Jan 2018 12:00:34 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6388This is an excerpt from an actual letter received from a writer whose identity shall remain shrouded with a justly deserved veil of anonymity:

“We acknowledge your recent correspondence and …

]]>This is an excerpt from an actual letter received from a writer whose identity shall remain shrouded with a justly deserved veil of anonymity:

“We acknowledge your recent correspondence and attachment of the 29th instant with thanks, same being forwarded herewith to our client for reference and review, with the writer confirming our telephone conversation of the 19th, and your undertaking not to take steps to the detriment of our client without ample prior notice to the contrary being first given to the writer, [client] presently being in the process of retaining litigation counsel to deal herewith, with service being endorsed herewith on the true copy as requested.”

Instant? No one has used that for ‘of the current month’ since about 1870. Three instances of herewith in one sentence?? And it’s not entirely clear what the third one is referring to… Same?! Ugh, ugly commercialese – and, logically, it refers here to thanks not correspondence and attachment (which the writer presumably had in mind). And the writer??!! You’re a lawyer, not Queen Victoria – so there’s no need to refer to yourself in the third person.

I fear this lawyer also writes to clients in the same vein …

Here’s a proposed translation, which may not be much shorter – but at least it’s clearer and doesn’t sound like something drafted by some scrivener in a novel by Dickens:

“Thank you for your letter and attachments of [month] 29, which we have forwarded to our client. We remind you of your undertaking, when we spoke on the 19th, to give notice before taking any steps which may adversely affect our client. Our client is now seeking litigation counsel. We have received your client’s statement of claim and return the signed copy you requested.”

Less egregious, but equally Dickensian (in a bad way):

please find attached/enclosed (even in the days of physical letters the please find business was weird and archaic; you can simply say I have attached the X or refer to the X, which is attached)

please do not hesitate to … (the reader is a grown-up and can figure whether he or she wants or needs to do that; this is meaningless and faintly patronising)

this is to acknowledge (just say thank you for whatever it is; by doing that, you’ve acknowledged it)

govern yourself accordingly (the worst kind of wannabe Perry Masonism; it should be clear from your letter, if you’re writing to a lawyer, that the recipient should be on notice about something – and if you aren’t writing to a lawyer, it sounds even more cheaply menacing)

we appreciate your consideration herein (another gem from Steven’s correspondent; herein usually means ‘contained in this document’, so the meaning is unclear; but you’re better not even to go there)

Please avoid these (and other) worn-out phrases, which have altogether too much of the inkwell and the quill pen about them.

Canada Post has a Personal Vault service that provides bank-grade security and keeps your information on servers physically located in Canada. The Personal Vault is not meant to be cloud storage for your massive photo and movie collection but rather a secure place for your important personal, financial, medical information and your most valuable photos and videos. For this reason, file size is limited to 200KB each file and 3.5MB for photos and 10MB for videos. Picture this as an electronic safety deposit box, the contents of which you can access 24/7 whether you are at work, at home, or travelling.

Setup is straight forward. All you need to do is to create an ePost account (if you don’t already have one), pick a Personal Vault Plan and sign in. You can upload your own files or use the provided forms to quickly enter information such as bank accounts, passwords, prescriptions, etc.

A trial account of 100MB storage is free for 90 days (500 documents, 28 photos, 10 videos). A Bronze account of 1GB storage is $23.95 a year (5,000 documents, 285 photos, 100 videos). Silver and Gold accounts are available if you require more storage space. Give it a try.

[This tip originally appeared on the Law Society of Saskatchewan Library’s Legal Sourcery Blog]

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/technology/canada-post-personal-vault/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/technology/canada-post-personal-vault/Silence Quells the Firehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/mmTlqPxtJTE/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/silence-quells-the-fire/#respondThu, 25 Jan 2018 12:00:17 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6692It was an intimidating scenario for a young lawyer. Representing the sole plaintiff in a multi-millionaire dollar lawsuit, I attended my client’s discovery anticipating a bombardment of questions from four …]]>It was an intimidating scenario for a young lawyer. Representing the sole plaintiff in a multi-millionaire dollar lawsuit, I attended my client’s discovery anticipating a bombardment of questions from four defendants’ lawyers, some with more experience lawyering than I had years of life. Deep into a long day, one of the lawyers asked a question I refused. “On what grounds?”, the lawyer asked angrily. “Irrelevant”, I said. Then the other three lawyers chimed in indignantly, “It’s clearly relevant!”, “You’re out of your depth!”, and, to each other, for my benefit, “He’s a young lawyer.”

I was shook, but I had not fallen off my chair. I had gotten what I wanted – the question refused – and everything else was theatre. As my client looked at me, I paused significantly, sitting still, eyes down on my notes, until silence took the room – a trick I learned from a mentor, a senior lawyer whose reputation soared far above my plebeian dreams. And looking up, I said simply, “The question is refused. What is your next question?” The angry lawyer recovered, everyone’s reputation unblemished, and the discovery proceeded routinely, insofar as a discovery with five lawyers can be routine.

Standing strong does not necessarily mean fighting fire with fire, an eye for an eye. When professional conduct begins to deteriorate, remember it takes two to tangle. Refuse to wrestle in the mud – having done what you can with the legal tools available, reacting with grace can be as simple as sitting quietly.

]]>http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/silence-quells-the-fire/feed/0http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/practice/silence-quells-the-fire/Tracing the History of the Income Tax Acthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slawtips/~3/_dxglpdtelY/
http://tips.slaw.ca/2018/research/tracing-the-history-of-the-income-tax-act/#respondWed, 24 Jan 2018 12:00:20 +0000http://tips.slaw.ca/?p=6707Tracing the legislative history of an act can be challenging, and even more so if the act you are looking at is the Income Tax Act. Here are some things …]]>Tracing the legislative history of an act can be challenging, and even more so if the act you are looking at is the Income Tax Act. Here are some things to keep in mind when tracing the legislative history of the Income Tax Act:

The Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) maintains the section numbering from the previous version, rather than being renumbered.

The Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. I-5, although published in the revision, never came into force due to the major changes proposed by the bill that later became S.C. 1970-71, c.63.

Although S.C. 1970-71-72, c. 63 was an amending act, it repealed and replaced almost all of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1952, c.148, so you periodically see references to “the Income Tax Act, S.C. 1970-71-72, c.63”.